- Blue, we have pink, yellow.
- As-salamu alaykum.
(speaking in foreign language)
- What's the name of the area of town again?
- It's called Lyari.
- Lyari.
And this is, you can also call it mini Balochistan
because so many people so many our Baloch friends live here
and this is a very vibrant area.
People from this area are very hospitable,
very great people, yeah.
- And Balochistan is the province of Pakistan which is
just North of Sindh, North of Karachi, right?
Along the coast line and then on the border of Iran.
It's a province that we weren't able to visit on this trip
because we ran out of time but that's why we wanted
to visit this area.
This is like mini Balochistan, within Karachi.
And so we're just going to walk around a little bit.
There's one famous street which is very colorful.
It's called Kiran Gali, it's very colorful it's very
picturesque and so that's what we're gonna walk down
and just kind of see what happens here.
Lyari Town is one of the 18 constituent towns of Karachi,
known as little Balochistan.
Just a few years ago, Lyari was a war zone.
Ruled by gangs and known for its brutal violence and unrest,
but recently things have changed.
We wanted to visit Lyari for one, because I didn't have
a chance to visit Balochistan on my trip to Pakistan.
And for two, in our very short visit, to share a story
of people, hope, and those making a difference.
(car honks)
I believe the old name is called Baghdadi street but now,
it's called Kiran Gali street.
And it's a colorful alley, only walking and motorcycle lane.
But you just see the buildings.
They've taken an initiative to take pride
in their neighborhood, to color,
to paint beautiful bright colors.
It's very colorful, very vibrant and beautiful actually.
So we're just going to walk down the street.
(upbeat music)
(horn honk)
And he has this bicycle pump attached to a horn.
He pumps the bicycle pump and that just blows the horn.
So that lets the entire community here know
that he's selling bread for the day.
Okay we're jumping into a rickshaw.
We're on our way to this food street
which I think is called Mombasa street.
Rickshaw is the best way to get there.
Oh he came with us too.
I think we met him in the colorful neighborhood
and he's joined.
How are you guys back there?
- We are the Lyari boys today.
- [Host] The Lyari boys.
(upbeat electronic music)
(car honk)
(cars driving by)
It's great when we just casually drive down the wrong
side of the road, intentionally.
(laughs)
You just gotta be careful you don't hang out too far.
Or you're, whoa.
(upbeat techno music)
Hello!
- Hi
- Yes, just on their way to school.
Oh man this is an amazing little ride
through mini Balochistan.
Okay, rickshaw rides are always fun and entertaining.
We got off in a more busy area of this region
or of this district and we're gonna,
there's a busy food stall that we're gonna check out.
Whoa look at these pomegranate seeds.
(cars honk)
(cards sputtering)
(upbeat music)
- [Host] As-salamu alaykum
- Salaam (speaks foreign language)
- [Host] Yeah this is the spot.
- (speaks foreign language)
(kitchen utensils clanking)
(yelling)
(car engines sputtering)
- We stopped at a stall, a little restaurant
on the side of the road and this is a very popular spot.
Lots of people are eating breakfast here.
(speaking foreign language)
- He's serving a local breakfast
but in this area of mini Balochistan.
So he has channa which is the chickpeas.
And then he also has Paya which is a cow foot
in this version it's cow foot stew.
And he's about to serve us.
(upbeat music)
(utensils clanking)
Nice, they put it on top.
(cars honking and driving past)
- (speaking foreign language)
All the best!
Nice, nalli.
Nalli Paya.
- [Host] Nalli Paya.
- Nalli Paya,
all the best.
(speaking in foreign language)
(laughing)
(speaking in foreign language)
- [Host] Rubber band.
(laughing)
Too fast, too fast man.
(laughing)
So much style.
He's so fast, he has so much style, so much skill.
What a friendly amazing man.
Yes man, wow, very good.
And I think he just hooked us up with a special.
The very special, the very special.
And he's like singing.
Wow.
What a master, another just ultimate, skillful,
wow
that looks awesome.
He made us three different dishes
and they're like special dishes.
One is the egg with the channa, with the chickpeas.
One is the Nalli which is the bone marrow.
Which he took that bone and I didn't even know
what he was gonna do and he just, he hit it.
He punched out the marrow into the plate.
And then one kind of daal.
And this is something I haven't had so far,
just a loaf of bread, whoa, very crusty loaf of bread.
I'm gonna try the Paya first and I don't even know
what that, oh that looks like tendon.
That looks like tendon and that looks like
a lump of skin and then
the marrow should just be floating around all in here.
I should grab whatever that chunk is.
Oh wow,
that's oily and meaty.
Oh and there's a little bit of channa in here too.
Whatever I picked up looks pretty gelatinous.
(upbeat music)
Gelatinous would be the way to describe that,
and I got a little like toe bone in that bite.
That's good though, you can taste the bread just absorbs
all that Desi ghee and that flavor.
You can taste the chilis in there, it's mild
but it's like a very warming, very kind of oily,
very heavy, very rich.
And you can really taste the ghee in that.
Okay, next I'm gonna try the chickpeas and the egg.
Break into it, oh here's a nice little,
oh there's a chili in there too.
Okay, grab that chili, whole chili
with the egg with some of that chickpea stew.
I just removed that stem.
That's a good combination because you've got the creamy yolk
plus the creaminess of the chickpeas.
And again, the ghee wrapping it up.
That one is like a classic breakfast.
It's just like warm and comforting.
Okay, the final dish we got is a type of daal.
And again you can see that ghee.
And I'm gonna dip this into the chutney provided.
It looks like a kind of a watery, kind of yogurty, chutney
with a little bit of herb in it.
The chutney kind of brightens it up.
Kind of refreshes the mouth.
Along with the richer stew.
(upbeat music)
Good?
- This is very crispy bread.
- [Host] Yeah, the bread is nice and crispy.
- Nice, nice and crispy.
- One shot from far.
Shukriya, shukriya.
- All the best.
- [Host] Thank you man,
shukriya.
That was a delicious breakfast.
He's such a friendly man.
Again he did not want to charge us for breakfast.
And that just shows his kindness, his hospitality.
But yeah.
What an amazing place, a little stall.
And that's a heavy and rich, rich breakfast.
This area, especially formerly,
was known as not a very safe area.
Actually quite a dangerous area in Karachi.
It's an area that's very friendly.
It's an area that has a lot of character.
And it represents Balochistan, which is a region
of Pakistan that's very less traveled, very less visited.
And so a part of the reason that Ali and I wanted
to come check this neighborhood out and just explore it
a little bit is just to show that the people
are so welcoming, so friendly.
And that things are really improving in this neighborhood,
in this community, within Karachi.
The city within a city in Karachi.
And just being able to see the colorful street.
People taking initiative to take pride
in their neighborhood.
And then the amazing man who we met
who just served us breakfast.
Thanks Ali and Farouk.
- Even for me it was first time to Lyari
and I think it's amazing.
This place has a very rich and distinctive character.
And I think everybody, especially people from Karachi
you should come here, yeah.
- Cool.